Valedictory of centenary of Holy Cross Church on Feb 18

Valedictory of centenary of Holy Cross Church on Feb 18

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Feb 16, 2012: Fr. Valerian Pinto, the parish priest of the Holy Cross Church of Kulshekar, informed reporters at a press meet held at the church today that the valedictory of the centenary celebrations of the consecration of the church will be held on Feb 18 Saturday. 

Speaking about the centenary celebrations, the parish priest said that the centenary celebrations of the consecration of the church began on Jan 19, 2011 and that the church organized a wide range of religious activities for devotees, along with a football tournament and various cultural activities. 

Further, he said that Rev. Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the bishop of Mangalore, will preside over the event and will concelebrate the Eucharistic celebration. The chief guests will be Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo, the bishop of Shimoga; Justice B. V. Pinto of the Karnataka High Court; Deputy Speaker N. Yogesh Bhat; and IGP Prathap Reddy. 

Fr. Pinto also said that “History of Diocese,” a book written by Fr. Devdatta Kamath and the telephone directory of the centre will also be released on the occasion. 

He also released the centenary celebration logo at the press meet. 

Beneficiary controversy

Regarding the controversy surrounding the first beneficiaries of the Mangalore Diocese’s project of constructing 160 houses for the poor, Fr. Pinto said that Irene and John of Maroli, the first beneficiaries, are lying and that he has not received any cheques from them for the construction of the house. But the diocese has given them three cheques for Rs. 15,000 each on three different occasions. 

He explained that, according to the terms of the project, the parishes had to provide Rs. 50,000 for the houses while the Mangalore Diocese will provide Rs. 50,000, which has to be repaid whenever the parishes can afford to do so. A total of Rs. 1,90,000 is to be spent on each house.

In case of the house of Irene and John, the diocese had given Rs. 1 lakh, tiles, and other construction material. The couple might have spent Rs. 20,000 on the house, he said and commented that anybody who attempts to help the poor will be put through a lot of difficulty. 

George D’Souza, Sushil Noronha, Fr. Melvin Noronha, and Praveen Patrao were also present.